Who's the Fairest?
by Crowdreamer
Summary: Rated M solely because Scully dies. Mulder and Scully go an an assignment where women are dying with no explanation, but clues are left behind that suggest a murderer is at large. Mulder has his usual unorthodox explanation, and Scully has her typical doubts, until she becomes a victim herself.
1. Chapter 1

_Setting: Pre-season 8 or so. _

_Spoilers: None that I can think of._

_Author's comments: So I had so much fun with that last story that I felt the need to keep the creative flow going. This one is a stand-alone story, not based on any episodes or a pre-existing MSR. It's just good ole' fashioned X-Files style paranormal investigation, with some real shippy moments when Mulder gets jealous, and a cool ending. See if you can tell where it's going before I give it away intentionally._

_Oh, and by the way, Scully doesn't die in ALL my stories—it just turns out that this one counted on that particular aspect. _

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter One**

The silky hair slipping out of Mulder's hands reminded him of the life slipping away in front of him. His breathing quickened while hers slowed…and then stopped. Kneeling next to her unmoving body lying on the floor, he knew he had to think quickly. The solution came to him in a flash.

Pointing to the handsome blonde man with the impossibly strong jawline standing next to him, he commanded, "Come down here." The man complied, and Mulder waved him in closer to Scully's unresponsive figure. "Kiss her…kiss her now!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter 2**

**One week earlier**

Scully watched as Mulder got busy examining the room for evidence. Like so many times in the past, she was unsure where to begin looking, because she did not know what to look for. "Mulder, I hate to be redundant, but why are we here?"

Mulder was busy looking through a garbage can under the sink in the kitchen, but he paused for a moment to answer her question. "Because," he said, reaching past her arm and brushing it with his own to tug on a piece of paper with his gloved hand, "of this."

Scully read the words on the paper. "REGARDS, THE QUEEN," it said in handwritten, cursive letters.

Scully shook her head. "I don't understand, Mulder. Why does this matter at all? The coroner performed an autopsy already on this woman and found no traces of foul play." Her voice became more incredulous at his curious antics the longer she spoke. "In fact, he ruled that she died of natural causes."

"Natural causes?" Mulder's hazel eyes pierced hers, searching for some trace of understanding. "Scully the woman was twenty-eight years old, with no history of medical problems, and nobody can give an exact reason for her death."

Scully gave him her unyielding look of steel. "And?"

"And there have been two other deaths of women just like this one, in this same town, in recent weeks. Seems a little more than coincidental to me." The town he was referring to, where they had flown to from halfway across the country, was a city with a population of fifty-thousand called Huntsman, Nebraska.

Scully paused and stared, unconvinced, at the man who never failed to amaze her with his wild notions and crazy theories based on nothing more than folklore. She waited, expecting him to elaborate, but by the look on his face, she could tell he needed more prompting. "And so what exactly makes this an X-File?"

Mulder looked down at the note again, and then picked it up. "This. The same exact note was found at every one of the victims' apartments."

Scully looked down at the ground in disbelief, then back up at Mulder. "I'd say at most, that makes these murders, Mulder, not X-files."

Mulder stooped and began rummaging through the trash again. "Aahh, but that's because we haven't found the key piece of evidence yet."

Scully did not join the search. "And what exactly are we looking for?"

Not finding what he wanted in the trash, Mulder stood up and looked in the sink. Scully watched with curiosity as he rolled up his sleeve and stuck his hand down the garbage disposal. "Ah ha." Retracting it now, Scully could see that he was gripping a brown, half-consumed item, although she couldn't tell what it was until she leaned in closer, and saw that it was an apple core. "This is what we're looking for, Scully. Good thing she never got around to running the garbage disposal."


	3. Chapter 3

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter 3**

"An apple, Mulder?" Scully took her eyes off the stinking, brown core to see if she could glean some meaning in Mulder's eyes.

Mulder ignored her skeptical look. "I think we need to run a chemical analysis on this, Scully."

Scully hoped he could tell she was still doubtful. "I'll have it sent to the FBI lab," she said, shuffling through the case file, "but the toxicology report from this victim—Bella Whitley—so far have shown no signs of poisoning, Mulder."

Mulder put the apple core in a plastic evidence bag and handed it to Scully. "Yeah, and that's why I need you to go down and do an autopsy on her, and the other two victims too."

Scully sighed. "You still haven't told me your theory, Mulder. Why are we doing all this work based on so little evidence? What is so unusual about this case that the FBI needs to be involved?"

Mulder's eyes blazed with intensity—always a sign that he felt he was onto something big, something unusual that nobody else would ever discover. "You haven't made the connection yet, Scully? I would expect as much from a country detective, but you…"

"Get on with it, Mulder."

"…the poisoned apple? The queen?"

Scully paused, staring wide-eyed at Mulder. Not because she had not figured out where he was going with this, but because it was incredibly ridiculous, even for him. "You're kidding me, right? Snow White?" His silence confirmed her statement. "You're basing this investigation on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale from the nineteenth century?"

"Hear me out, Scully. We're looking for a suspect who considers herself to be royalty of sorts, perhaps someone from a prominent family in the area. This woman practices witchcraft—to what extent I don't know. She is pretty, but insecure, and hence, she feels the need to wipe out the competition. All three of her victims so far have been beautiful young women—I just haven't figured out the connection yet between the three of them. That's what I'm getting ready to go do right now, while you examine the bodies."

Scully leaned in closer to him than before, so that the local authorities wouldn't overhear their conversation, which was becoming increasingly strange. "Mulder, I don't have to tell you how insane all this sounds. But if we do find traces of some sort of toxin, that would still make it a string of murders, in which case we have no right to be here."

"Ah, but if we don't—then we have an X-file."


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's notes: Sorry for all the mistakes in the last two chapters! I have heard of proofreading, and I actually used it in this chapter, so hopefully it's better. I know these chapters have been a little shorter—I am just posting them as I write, and still in the story set-up stage. Stay tuned, about to get into more meaty stuff._

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter 4**

Part 1.

"Mirror Mirror…" Dark eyes gazed upon the reflection of an attractive young woman with straight, black hair combed perfectly, which swept across round, pale cheeks with just the hint of a pinkish twinge. She was pretty, yes. She knew it by the stares of the young men at her college, where she attended by day, although she returned nightly to the bedroom that belonged to her at the seven-bedroom house owned by her parents. She supposed many might consider it a mansion—to her it was a barely acceptable form of living quarters.

She dreamed of being Paris Hilton, and she also dreamed of a man so handsome and beautiful that women swooned—a man who had left her behind two months ago. Now he was with another woman—one who put her own beauty to shame. Glancing back at the mirror, she saw an image of the two of them superimposed over her own. She could not have this—not again. Her eyes drifted away from the mirror to her dresser, where a basket of apples sat ready to be eaten.

Part 2.

Mulder found Scully at the Medical Examiner's office, in the lab, finishing up her examination of the three young women's bodies. He watched her slender frame carry her nimble hands to Bella's mouth, where they confidently probed in all the necessary places. "Find anything?" he asked.

She paused to look up at him, then continued on with her exploration. "Well, actually…nothing in the tox screens showed any signs of poisons present in any of the three bodies. But," she said, inserting a finger deep into the throat while the other hand flashed a light inside, "I did find all the requisite signs of poisoning—signs of irritants in the stomach, bleeding in the brain and eyes, and increased blood flow in the lung tissue. I found this in all three victims. It's odd, it's like they were poisoned, without any poisoning actually being present. I'm going to have the lab run more tests just to be sure."

Mulder tried to hide his smirk. "Just goes to prove my theory, Scully."

She stopped to look him in the face. "Which is what, exactly? That all three of these women ate a poisoned apple that had no poison?"

Mulder nodded slightly. She almost had it. "What if our suspect is able to put a curse on the apples, so that she didn't need any poison to bring on their deaths?"

Scully's mouth sat agape, as if waiting to see what other nonsense would come out of his. When she was sure he was finished, she said, "Uh huh. So how do you suppose we can track down someone who has this ability, let alone bring a criminal case against them?"

Mulder lit up at the question. "Ah, that was _my _homework assignment, remember? I found the connection between all three women, Scully—they all three dated one man in the last month, a man named Drew Thesdon."

He flashed a picture at her of an unbelievably attractive man in his twenties, with golden blonde hair that feathered neatly over his high forehead. The rest of his locks hung in long strands next to his face, revealing a proud yet boyish nose and strong jawline. Mulder couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy as he noticed a slight smile when Scully looked at the picture. He decided against commenting and continued. "It's getting late tonight, but we need to go talk to him tomorrow and find out who might have a crush on him. Maybe we can even narrow it down to one page."

"Yeah, and maybe we could ask if he's seen seven small men with any of his girlfriends in the meantime."

Mulder admired the smile in his partner's eyes, even though her smart mouth meant she still did not believe he was on the right track.


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's notes: I would have had this out sooner, if not for a kidney infection that left me with a fever and nausea—felt like I had the flu! It's hard to write when you feel like you're on death's door. One miracle antibiotic later, and I'm back in business, though. Just a note about the poison in this story—I research all my stories thoroughly, but I did not discover the poison (belladonna) until I had already named the first victim, who coincidentally is named Bella. So there is no connection—it is pure coincidence. _

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter 5**

In the car on the way over to Drew's house, which was in the richest suburb in town, Mulder cautiously asked, "So is he really that cute?"

Scully looked surprised, which was a slight relief to Mulder. "You mean Drew?"

"Uh, yeah." Embarrassed now, he wished he had not asked.

Scully smiled, and stared ahead at the road as she drove. "Feeling a little insecure, Mulder?"

Trying to cover up now, he said, "Nah, just wondering what kind of men that women find attractive."

He glanced at her inconspicuously, trying to see if he could read her thoughts from her expression. She was still smiling. "We all like different types of guys, Mulder. Everybody has different tastes."

Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "But what do you like?"

She was no longer smiling—instead she was grinning from ear to ear. Mulder wished women weren't so hard to read. He knew he was an attractive man—to most people. But all he cared about right now was how Scully felt about him. She must have seen the serious look on his face, because her smile diminished to a smirk. "Well, that's hard to say, Mulder. All I can tell you is that I know what I like when I see it. Besides, there's more to it than that—there's intelligence, and character, and a sense of humor—all of that matters." She glanced at him, apparently to gauge his reaction. "But to answer your original question—yeah, he's pretty handsome."

Mulder was silent for the rest of the car ride.

If he did not feel intimidated yet, all traces of confidence left him when Drew answered Scully's knock on the door. Mulder did not even notice the solid marble floors in the entryway, or the gigantic mahogany table they passed on the way through a room that must be reserved for "entertaining." All he could see was the muscular physique that rippled through Drew's smooth cotton shirt.

"So, Agents Scully and…what was it again?" he said, without taking his eyes off Scully.

Mulder edged his way slightly in front of Scully and said, "Agent Mulder."

Now Drew looked at him, as if being caught in a guilty act. "Right…Mulder."

He indicated for them to sit down on a plush leather couch, and Mulder began questioning, but not before noticing a flirtatious smile that Drew flashed at Scully. He did not dare look at Scully to see her reaction. "You dated all three of these women, and they are all dead now," Mulder began, flashing pictures of the victims at Drew.

Drew's face was serious now, but Mulder could not tell if he really felt for the women who died, or if he was putting on an act to avoid suspicion. As if reading his mind, Drew said, "Look, man, I feel bad that this happened, but I didn't have anything to do with their deaths."

Scully surprised Mulder by jumping in. "We're not saying you did. We just need to find out if there was anyone who may have been jealous of your relationship with them."

Mulder wondered whether Scully had come around to believing his theory of the case, or if she was hastily trying to cover for Drew because of an attraction to him. But he brushed off his concerns and listened to Drew as he said, "About two months ago, I broke up with a girl. Her name was Tori Clairemont. She's from the Clairemont family." He searched their faces for recognition, as if everybody should know who he was talking about. "Anyway, she was a little too eccentric for me. She really took it hard when I broke up with her, saying something about she was the only one for me…" He stopped mid-sentence and scratched his head. "Hey, I wonder if she…"

Scully leaned forward slightly. "Drew, maybe you could help us out. It might be easier for us if you were to convince her to cooperate with us."

Mulder felt slightly ruffled, but he couldn't understand what was wrong…he had never felt this worried about Scully's interactions with another man before, not even Sheriff Hartwell in the vampire case they worked on together. But then, the sheriff had not been quite this gorgeous…

Mulder's musings were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. Hesitantly, he left the two of them talking while he took the call in a quieter corner of the room. When he returned, Scully was laughing at something Drew had said, to Mulder's dismay.

"We have another victim—do you know a Tracy Morgan?"

"Oh my god!" said Drew. "I just had a couple of drinks with her last night—we weren't even dating!"

"Her friends, who witnessed her death, said she went blind and started hallucinating, and then fell to the floor dead soon after."

Scully piped in while Drew watched her attentively. "Sounds like Belladonna poisoning, which would be consistent with my autopsy findings. I'll have the lab run an analysis on the apples we found to see if there are any traces of it."

Now it was Scully's turn to get up to use the phone. As soon as she was out of hearing range, Drew leaned in toward Mulder and said, "Beautiful _and _smart—she's got the whole package, eh?"

Mulder did not answer, but turned to watch his partner as she talked on the phone. He knew the wolf was on the prowl now, but was the sheep going to bear her belly that easily?


	6. Chapter 6

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter 6**

Part 1.

Scully was flattered by Drew's seeming interest in her, even more than she was by Mulder's bizarre questioning about her taste in men. Standing before Tori's mirror now, she surveyed her own image. She knew she was attractive, but she could never quite see herself as beautiful, although she knew that some men believed her to be. Brushing an errant strand of hair back from her face now, she supposed she could see what made her appealing—the shiny red locks, the piercing eyes that looked blue one moment, green the next, the luscious red lips that puckered prettily, the dainty frame with shapely legs. Yes, she could see what men found beautiful about her.

Her musings were interrupted by Mulder's appearance in that same mirror. "Find anything interesting?"

His smile gave away his amusement at her narcissistic musings. Embarrassed now, she turned away from the mirror to face her partner. "I didn't find anything to indicate that this mirror is in any way magic, Mulder," she said sarcastically.

"Well that's too bad, because it looks like Tori decided to pack up and leave. Guess maybe that mirror might be magic after all—she must have known we were coming somehow."

Part 2.

As they were leaving Tori's house, with Drew in tow, Scully glanced at the well-built blonde man beside him, and caught him returning the glance with a smile. Craftily, she thought, '_I could have this man._'

They had visited the house and Tori's room with the young girl's parents' permission, after Drew called only to find out that they did not know where she was. They had taken Drew along in case she came back. Now they were keeping him with them, over Mulder's objections, to pick his brain and try to discern where she may have fled to.

Yes, Scully had fought to keep the young charmer with them, even though she knew it ruffled Mulder's feathers. Or maybe _because _of that fact. She tried to convince herself she was being purely rational about the decision, but she knew deep down that she liked having someone around who admired her…in more than the vague sense that Mulder did, with less ego and more blatant appreciation.

They went back to Drew's place to discuss Tori's possible location. After they talked about it, and got a few weak leads, Mulder said, "Well, it's getting late, I guess we should get back to the hotel now. We'll continue looking for her in the morning."

To Scully's surprise, Drew replied, "Why don't you stay here tonight? No reason to spend money on a hotel—I have plenty of extra room here, and I'm sure it's a lot more comfortable." A surge of electricity raised the fine hairs on Scully's arms, causing them to tingle. The tingle rose to her face, which she was sure would be a slight pinkish color by now.

Mulder was quick to answer. "No, no. That's okay. It's all on the government's tab. We'll be fine."

Scully leaned over to Mulder and whispered, "Mulder, maybe we should—they're really on our case lately about not wasting money on fishing expeditions. This could save our asses-give them less of an excuse to get rid of our jobs."

Their eyes met—Mulder's infuriated, Scully's pleading, but Scully won out in the end. After retrieving their stuff from the hotel, they settled into oversized rooms at the Hotel Drew.

Part 3.

Drew showed Mulder to his room first, so that Scully and Drew were alone in the hallway when they arrived at what could only be considered a "suite"—a lavish affair with a bathroom attached that was as large as Scully's living room. Drew swept a hand through the door. "Here it is."

She looked in, then looked back at him. Wnas this to be the end of the interaction between them? "Well…okay, then…"

Before she had a chance to get the words 'good night' out, Drew flashed a smile and said, "It's been a long day—care for a night cap?"

The moment of truth had arrived—should she do the "right thing", take the most ethical path, and avoid any involvement with this handsome young man, who may prove to be a material witness later on in a criminal case? On the other hand—what was one drink? She had a tendency to act impulsively, despite the steely exterior she displayed to the world, and now was no exception. She gave him a small nod of agreement. "Okay…yeah sure."

They retreated to a cozier room that contained a bar in the corner, and he poured her a drink while she wondered what to say to him. He saved her the discomfort of making that decision by speaking first. "You really know your stuff, don't you?"

Scully liked where this was going, despite being a little uncomfortable as the center of attention for once. She hoped she wasn't beaming too brightly. "What do you mean?"

Drew shook his head, "I just…you seem very intelligent. I really admire that—I'm not used to that. Most of the girls I hang out with are not that smart."

Scully voiced a doubt that had been nagging at her. "And you don't think I might be just a little too…mature for you?" She had to be at least ten years older than him.

"You mean, because of your age?" She nodded while nibbling on the end of her straw. "Nah. You're not exactly old. And I like women older than me. They seem to be a lot wiser."

Her eyes caught his, and lingered there a little longer than they needed to. Scully tried to reign herself in, reminding herself that this had to stay on a professional level. She decided to change the subject. "So you and Tori—were you serious?"

Drew looked down now, his face turning serious. "Nah, not really. I think _she _thought we were, but I tried real hard not to lead her on, you know?" He looked up at her again, his boyish face brightening upon seeing Scully's eyes again. "I don't do that. If I like you, there will be no doubt about it."

They were sitting across the bar from one another, Scully with her hands wrapped around her glass, Drew leaning his head on one hand that was propped up on an elbow. As he spoke, his face came closer to hers. "And I…like…you. I hope you feel the same?" When she didn't answer right away, he said, "I guess we'll find out."

He leaned his head in closer, and she closed her eyes to catch his soft lips on hers.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's notes: So I left some things to the imagination—like how far did Scully and Drew take their little tryst? I thought I'd let you all decide that yourselves. I also came up with an idea to have the Lone Gunmen and four children walk in at just the right moment as stand-ins for the seven dwarves (or maybe circus "little people"), but I didn't have the patience to develop it—so I'll just leave that image for you to chuckle at. _

**Who's the Fairest?**

**Chapter 7**

It drove Mulder crazy watching events unfold over the next few days. He woke up the next morning having heard or seen nothing out of the ordinary, but as soon as he entered the kitchen to see about breakfast, Drew and Scully scurried to their respective places at the table as if they had been involved in a rendezvous to which had had not been invited. He decided to ignore their actions and cheerily asked, "What's for breakfast?"

Drew, ever the charming host, had already asked his cook to prepare eggs, bacon, and toast with Mimosa's. Because they were on duty, Mulder and Scully both limited their consumption to one, and enjoyed the rich breakfast prepared for them. Mulder witnessed several sly glances between Drew and his glowing partner, and he was pretty certain he heard the sound of a foot searching for another foot under the table.

It continued on this way for the rest of the week—hushed silences after Mulder entered the room, slight brushes of skin on skin when they thought nobody was watching, smirks and knowing looks exchanged like missiles between warring nations. In the meantime, they looked for Tori, but she was elusive. She had snuck back into her parents' house in the middle of the night and taken her mirror, the one that Mulder suspected she used for scrying—looking into a reflective object for signs of the future. Test results came back on the apples and the four victims showing no traces of Belladonna or similar substances.

A week after they started their search for her, they thought they were onto something when they received an anonymous tip that she had been sighted in a local dance club. But by the time they got there, she was long gone, and nobody would tell them where she went or who she left with, even after Drew attempted to pass along plenty of cash incentives.

Feeling let down, they decided to stop at a café and get some dinner. Mulder sat down first, and Drew took the seat across from him. Scully eyed them both sitting empty seats next to them, and hesitantly pulled out the chair next to Drew. Scully must have seen disappointment on his face, because she raised her eyebrows slightly and flashed him a tight, reassuring smile.

Mulder ordered a cheeseburger, Scully a fruit salad, and Drew…well, Mulder was too uptight to notice what Prince Charming had ordered. Dejected, he said, "Well, we haven't found the evil queen, but I think some of us found what we were looking for."

Scully sent daggers flying at him with her eyes. He half-expected to feel a kick in the shins under the table, but that was not her style—instead she would wait until they were alone together and let him _really _take a beating. "What do you mean by that, Mulder?" Her tone was almost as piercing as her eyes.

Drew sat in silence with wonderment on his face at this exchange between partners. "I just mean," Mulder said, as the waitress set down their plates in front of them, "that it seems we're getting nowhere, and I think some of us might be a little pre-occupied."

Scully stabbed at her salad and waited to speak until she had finished chewing on the first bite—Mulder guessed it was for dramatic effect. "By some of us, you mean me?"

The hairs on Mulder's arms froze at attention. He watched Scully tear into a second bite of her salad, and then a third, and said, "No, I'm just saying…"

"Mmmm…" Scully said, more of a sound than a word, and grabbed at her glass of water. "Thirsty," she said, gulping desperately at the cool liquid.

Mulder continued. "Just saying that…"

Scully brought a fist up to her mouth and coughed into it. She put the same hand against her throat now. "Are you okay, Scully?"

Drew chimed in, "Are you okay, Dana?"

Dana? Since when had he earned the privilege of calling her by her first name? "Yeah, I'm okay," she croaked. "Must be something in my throat." She downed more water.

But Mulder could tell something was wrong—her face was flushed and she was breathing heavier. In confirmation of his suspicions, she said, "Something is wrong—I can't see!"


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's notes: Hum hum hum…it's the end of the story! Oh, yes, oh, yes, oh, yes. I wasn't sure this one was going to turn out so good, but I _love _this ending. _

**Who's the Fairest**

**Chapter 8**

"What do you mean you can't see, Scully?" Mulder noticed now that her hands were clutching at the table, as if she needed to steady herself.

"I mean, everything's going dark." Her brow furrowed, as startled eyes tried to focus on his face. "Oh, I don't feel so good…Mulder?"

Drew put one arm around her, protectively. Mulder quickly swept over to her side of the table and kneeled beside her. Examining her eyes, he saw that her pupils were dilated, and her face flushed to a deeper red. "You don't look so good, Scully. I think we need to get you to the hospital."

As she unsteadily began to rise to her feet, he glanced at her salad and noticed a detail he had not thought of—not with Scully. Apples—small chunks of them scattered about in her fruit salad. Mulder and Drew stood on either side of her, helping her to stand. As they tried to guide her to the door, she stumbled to one side and almost wobbled into the table of a family of four. Most of the eyes in the restaurant were turned toward the threesome now, as Drew steadied her into a standing position again. "You gonna make it?" Drew asked. Mulder knew this was not the time to be petty, but he couldn't help but feel that he should be the one asking that question.

Scully stood straight again, and said, "Yeah…other than…can't see." She took two more steps, then froze.

Mulder was tempted to pick her up and carry her, but he did not want to embarrass her if she was able to make it out on her own. He caught up to her and placed his hand gingerly under her elbow. "What is it, Scully?"

She stood there, unmoving, and stared ahead blankly. "Scully?"

Not to be outdone, Drew asked, "Dana? What's wrong?"

She started forward again, without answering either of them-on shaky legs, as if intoxicated. Customers were still staring, and Mulder tried to ignore them while he escorted Scully towards the door. "Scully? How you doing? Do you need us to call 911?"

"Mulder?" She spun around now to face the direction of his voice. To his astonishment, she smiled. Mulder was confused—had her condition mysteriously improved?

But then he noticed that she was not looking at him, but instead, she was staring ahead at some unknown object. He looked in the same direction that she was staring, but saw nothing but alarmed expressions on whispering faces of the customers. "Right here, Scully," he said, in case she still could not see him.

"We're both right here, Dana," said Drew.

She looked in his general direction, and her smile grew wider. "Drew?" She laughed now. Speech slurred, she said, "Mulder and Drew. My two favorite guys."

She was definitely not acting herself, and Mulder did not know how to get her out of the restaurant without causing even more of a scene. Knowing he had to act quickly though, he spun her around to face towards the door again and guided her in the right direction. The action caused her to stumble again, but she did not seem concerned. She ran into the same table with the now astonished family of four, and used the table for support. "These are my guys," she said to no one in particular.

In order to prevent the family from becoming startled and calling for help, which may lead to further delay in getting Scully medical help, Mulder leaned over the table and said, "She's sick," and guided her away from the table once again.

"Sick. Yes she is. Sick in the head to do those things to those poor girls—all because they couldn't help but like this gorgeous man." She was gesturing, but she missed the mark because Drew was on the opposite side of her.

Drew shot an inquisitive look at Mulder and said, "Should I carry her?"

Irritated as well as worried now, Mulder said harshly, "No! Just help me get her out of here."

It was like one step forward, two steps back as a wobbly Scully staggered towards the door, mumbling incoherently all the way. She made it almost to the door and took her last step before sliding to the floor. Mulder was at her side immediately. "Scully? Scully…"

Her eyes were slightly open, but she was unresponsive. Her breathing slowed, and Mulder knew he had to do something, and quick. He ran through all the possibilities. Too late to call for an ambulance, and he had already seen the waitress dialing frantically for one at any rate. CPR might be called for in a minute, but that was not going to help with the poison—and then suddenly he had a light bulb moment. The poison—the same one used in _Snow White_. Maybe he could use the same solution that was used in the story—a kiss from a handsome prince. He looked up at Drew, who was beginning to kneel already even as Mulder ordered him to the floor.

"You have to kiss her." Mulder never thought he would hear those words coming from his mouth with regards to Scully. But he had to put aside his jealousy to save her life, which he watched slip away as her breathing slowed, and then stopped. Drew hesitated. "Kiss her now, dammit!"

Shooting one last questioning glance at Mulder, Drew bent over and kissed her gently on the lips. Nothing happened. "Harder!" Mulder ordered.

Drew bent down once again and pressed his lips firmly against hers, letting them linger longer than before.

Drew withdrew from her, and Mulder watched her rib cage for any signs of breathing. Without thinking, Mulder continued giving commands. "We need to do CPR. You do chest compressions, I'll do mouth to mouth."

Panicked at the thought of losing Scully, but not wanting to linger too long for fear of hastening her demise, he tilted her head back and said quietly. "Breathe, Scully. Please…"

He put his lips against hers and blew two sharp breaths, but before he even finished the second one, he felt stirring beneath him. He started to pull away to see if there were signs of life from Scully, but then he felt a dainty hand on either side of his face holding him in place. He pulled back slightly to double check—and saw that Scully was not only breathing once again, but had her face turned toward him expectantly. She did not open her eyes, but beckoned his face back to hers with the tug of her hands. He complied, and felt her lips press against his in a kiss that started out tender, but deepened into a more passionate affair with desperate open-mouthed probing and clinging like a vice grip.

Startled by this sudden burst of affection from his once-unresponsive partner, but also extremely relieved that she was alive, Mulder finally relaxed into the kiss. It seemed to go on for an eternity, although he was sure it was only a matter of seconds. Pulling back now, he could see a woozy smile appear on her face, her eyes open and sparkling. "Guess you're my prince charming, after all." Satisfied, she closed her eyes and let him gently pick up her hand as the paramedics arrived.

Mulder watched her face while stroking her hand and smiling gently. Prince Charming. He let the words resonate with his heart, and cherished how it felt. Usually not the skeptical one of the two, he considered whether it was just the effects of the poison. There was no way to know for sure until she recovered.

If she recovered. Worrying now that the poison might still take her life, he reluctantly stepped aside and let the paramedics do their job. He drove to the hospital, but did not take Drew with him, telling the disappointed Romeo that they no longer needed his help—he had gotten a call while Scully was being loaded into the ambulance, informing him that Tori had been apprehended. He did not know how they would begin to prosecute her, but that was a task for another day. Right now, his sole order of business was Scully's well-being.

He arrived at the hospital just after she had her stomach pumped. Mulder did not believe the treatment would have any effect on Scully's recovery—after all, she probably did not have the actual poison in her system. But the doctor informed him that Scully had recovered well after being treated, and told Mulder he could visit with her.

Mulder tentatively entered Scully's room to find her lying on her side with her eyes closed. "Hey, Scully," he said softly. She opened her eyes at once and lit up when she saw it was him. "How do you feel?" he asked, approaching the side of her bed.

She took the first step towards closeness by reaching out and grabbing his hand and pulling it to her. Happy to provide her with physical comfort, he put his other hand on top of hers. "Kinda like I got hit by a truck," she said.

There was levity in her tone and expression, and Mulder decided to question her further. "How much do you remember?"

She squinted her eyes, trying to recall the events from earlier. "Well, I know we were sitting at the table when I felt like my throat was closing up, and then everything turned into a blur and went black." She furrowed her brow. "And then…it was weird. There were aliens in the room, but I didn't feel alarmed…And you and Drew were there, but you were both trying to kiss me…I guess I was pretty out of it, huh?"

Mulder studied her face to see if seriousness would turn into surprise, if she ever would remember the ending to the story. He did not see recognition come to her, and so he cautiously pressed further. "Do you remember anything you said?"

Her eyebrows went down again, this time in confusion. "What I said?" And then her eyes got wide and her mouth fell open. "I…do…remember…something…"

Her lips pursed together as memories of the final moments in the restaurant came back to her. Now she looked worried. "Mulder…"

Mulder chuckled to himself. "Don't worry Scully, I won't say anything."

She looked grateful, but Mulder felt disappointed that she might write it all off as a hallucination. But then she said, "You know, Mulder…you did save my life, and for that I owe you. And…I could think of much worse ways to be revived."

Mulder was still disheartened that the moment might slip by without leading to anything further. But he was too afraid to push ahead, and possibly have to deal with rejection from her. He said nothing, but she continued. "I, um…" she said, looking guilty now. "I have to admit that I was attracted to Drew."

Mulder recoiled at the admission. But if anything happened between them, she was not giving up that information to him. Instead, she continued. "But if he stops by today, I'm going to have to tell him that I'm not interesting in taking things further." He looked down. "Yeah, I'm going to have to tell him that I already have my Prince Charming."

His eyes shot towards her expectantly. He felt his heart pounding as she sat up in bed and pulled him in towards her. He did not resist, but felt himself trembling as their lips met in a tingling embrace—a kiss which lingered much longer than merely a rescue kiss. He had brought her back to life, and now she was doing the same for him.

**The End**


End file.
